China Book reviews : page 2

Showing books 21 to 40

China, Sir Henry Arthur Blake, A & C Black, 1909

129 pages. ASIN B00DB5HDQK Details/purchase ➚ Although titled 'China' this is only a cursory sketch of the country. Written by the British Governor of Hong Kong in 1909 it gives an interesting perspective on China at the time. Details bring the various short scenes and topics to life, as do the skilful watercolours scattered through the pages. The attitude of the British to China is clear from his writings - sympathetic but paternalistic. It is really a miscellaneous set of jottings but still of value.

China: A Concise History, Meyer, Littlefield Adams, 1984

354 pages. ISBN 0-8226-3033-8 Details/purchase ➚ To understand Chinese history it is important to view it from as many perspectives as possible. Each historian has their own slant and particular points to make. Meyer, in this survey up to 1976 does an admirable job of putting each time period into focus. It has a good bibliography and index. The first section quite rightly looks at the Chinese way of life (110 pages): age old customs and traditions, before launching into the historical survey.

China: A Geographical Sketch, Foreign Language Press, 1974

130 pages. ASIN B001OT7PF4 Details/purchase ➚ A book full of facts about the geography of China: mountains, rivers, plateaus, vegetation, soils. Rather dated now but has the merit of being written by Chinese authors.

China: A Macro History, Huang, Sharpe,1990

281 pages. ISBN 0-87332-728-4 Details/purchase ➚ A 'macro' view of history is a way of stepping back from details and trying to make sense of the complex patterns that form the bigger picture. Ray Huang summarizes each major period of Chinese history highlighting the key trends and developments. This is really aimed at undergraduates studying Chinese History. However, there is little factual material that can not be found elsewhere, its value is in analysis and context.

China: Library of Nations,TimeLife,1984

160 pages. ISBN 0-7054-0840-X Details/purchase ➚ More of a coffee table picture book than a work of reference this book is a series of 'essays' about different aspects of China. It is a pleasant enough book to look through but there is no list of references and as this was produced in 1984 it documents a bygone age.

Chinese Art, Mary Tregear, Thames and Hudson,1980

216 pages. ISBN 978-0500202999 Details/purchase ➚ This book gives a good survey of the decorative arts (pottery, painting, ornaments) from earliest times to the present day. There are only a few color illustrations, most are small and in black and white; and so the art examples are hard to appreciate in detail. It is a vast subject to try to condense into a small book so this can only be regarded as an overview.

278 pages. ISBN 978-1230225128 Details/purchase ➚ Written at the height of Christian missions to China, this book gives the Westerner's perspective of the Chinese character. The book gives many examples of the life in China at the time (pre-Republic) and is generally negative. The author sees little hope for reform without Christianity providing the necessary moral and spiritual guidance.

524 pages. ISBN 978-0029087527 Details/purchase ➚ Most of the time we see Chinese history through the distorting lenses of the historians who have translated and analyzed the source documents. Often we are not entirely sure what historians have actually read to form their view. This is where this source book is invaluable. It is a set of one hundred source documents all gathered together and translated into English. It covers the whole of Chinese history from the Shang dynasty to the 1989 democracy protest. Each article is given a brief introduction but is then just printed unmodified. Obviously the choice of which 100 articles to include has a strong bearing on the attitude to an event and this is where care needs to be taken in interpreting one document from one time period as representative of the whole.

Chinese Cultural Traditions, Yujing He, CreateSpace publishing, 2013

16 pages. ISBN 978-1481983211 Details/purchase ➚ This very short booklet gives some useful everyday traditions that are useful to know when visiting China.

Chinese Customs, Hu Lingque and Xiang Wei, Better Link Press, 2008

115 pages. ISBN 978 1602201040 Details/purchase ➚ A short book that concentrates on the traditional foods rather than general customs of China. It does cover all the major festivals but is patchy elsewhere. It would have a higher rating if it had fewer typographical and factual errors (e.g. firecrackers are not made of dynamite! Jiaozis not jaozis!). As it is written by a Chinese person there are some genuine insights and traditions that aren't generally recorded in other similar books.

Chinese Lattice Designs, Daniel Dye, Dover, 1974

469 pages. ISBN 978-0486230962 Details/purchase ➚ One of the key features of traditional art has been the intricate and varied designs of the wooden lattices used to decorate windows. This book gathers together designs from all over China and carefully categorizes them. Some designs go back hundreds of years to the Ming dynasty. The geometric patterns are fascinating and immediately convey an Oriental flavor.

Chinese Painting Techniques, Jean Long, Studio Vista, 1994

224 pages. ISBN 0-289-80114-1 Details/purchase ➚ This is a practical guide to the Chinese painting technique. It gives a good grounding in calligraphy, symbolism as well as painting. It does not cover art history in any depth.

Chinese Painting, James Cahill, Booking International, 1995

211 pages. ISBN 978-2605003068 Details/purchase ➚ Covers Chinese painting through the ages with many color illustrations. Paintings are critically analyzed and the changes of style over the centuries carefully explained. It does not have much to say on symbolism or general Chinese culture and traditions; it is very much a treatise on the painters and their paintings.

Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs, C.A.S. Williams, Tuttle, 1993

472 pages. ISBN 0-8048-1586-0 Details/purchase ➚ A treasure trove of Chinese symbols in alphabetical order. Unfortunately now a bit dated, particularly as it uses Wade-Giles not pinyin. He covers a lot of Buddhist deities and motifs that are neglected elsewhere. Each entry has source references. However illustrations are disappointing, as the book title says 'art motifs' you may have expected lots of illustrations from art works, there are some but not very good ones.

Chronicles of Tao, Deng Ming-Dao, Harper Collins, 1993

476 pages. ISBN 0-06-250219-0 Details/purchase ➚ The Daoist tradition in China remains important. The chronicles is a fictional account of a Daoist master during the difficult times of the Japanese occupation, the Communist suppression of religion and then finally ends up in America. Deng Ming-dao's prose style is rather labored and unrefined.

224 pages. ISBN 0-500-05090-2 Details/purchase ➚ A lavishly illustrated delight. Covers all the dynasties in time order with every emperor getting a mention. The most attractive feature are the illustrated panels covering related cultural topics. It is a most commendable factual account of Chinese history. The only things it lacks, may be, are overviews of the time periods and putting events into a global context. As it is titled a 'chronicle of emperors' one would not expect it to cover the lives of ordinary Chinese people but all major developments are covered.

Colloquial Chinese: A Complete Language Course, Routledge, 1995

330 pages. ISBN 0-415-11386-5 Details/purchase ➚ This is a basic guide for 'Getting by in Chinese', suitable for tourists and businessmen. It takes the student through a number of 'real-life' situations giving conversational Chinese. It is mostly in pinyin but some of the most common characters are introduced. Provides a sound introduction to the language.

Disputers of the Tao, A.C. Graham, Open Court, 1989

502 pages. ISBN 0-8126-9088-5 Details/purchase ➚ This scholarly work looks at the currents in the development of the Daoist philosophic tradition. He compares Daoist thought to those of Kongfuzi (Confucius) and Mozi. He covers the Yi Jing and Wu wei as well as many other traditions. Of interest to anyone who wants to study ancient Chinese thought in depth.

Early Civilization in China, Willaim Watson, Thames and Hudson, 1966

143 pages. ASIN B0018GTEK2 Details/purchase ➚ A very creditable but now dated survey of Chinese art from the earliest times (Neolithic) up to the start of the Han dynasty. Many useful and attractive illustrations of pottery and bronzes over the two thousand years. The development of a uniquely 'Chinese style' is made evident from the evolution of form and ornamentation. This is a book based around archaeology and art history and not dynastic history.

Emperor of China, Jonathan Spence, Vintage Books, 1974

226 pages. ISBN 978-0679720744 Details/purchase ➚ It is amazing to read about the life of a great Emperor in his own words. Emperor Kangxi reigned over 60 years (1661 to 1722) and his humanity, scepticism and sheer hard work are expressed in his writings. He is rightly regarded as one of the great emperors. He took care to rule as wisely as he could and was not above self-criticism. A fascinating book from the great Jonathan Spence.